The Basics

Since I’ll be talking about electronics here, I might as well start with the basics.

Voltage, Current and Resistance

These three things are the basic of all basics in electronics. I won’t be explaining technical stuff here like joules and coulombs, and instead, explain them in a “nutshell” perspective. That way, it’ll be easier to understand. If you want to know the actual science behind electronics, buy a book or go to college! LOL!

Current is the amount of electrons that flows through a conductor. What is an electron? Let’s just say that it’s the energy needed for the circuits to work, and a conductor is a material that lets electrons flow (ex. Copper wires)

Voltage is the force that pushes the electrons. Yeah, it’s a common misperception that voltage is the actual electricity, but it’s just the force that makes electricity move. FYI, current is the one that causes death from electrocution (if I remember correctly, 4mA causes severe discomfort, 5mA causes paralysis and 6mA to the heart is enough to kill), but voltage and current are usually proportional so high voltage can still mean high current. So don’t you dare touch those high voltage wires yet, saying someone in the internet says voltage doesn’t kill!

Resistance is the force that prevents the flow of electrons. In electronics, resistance is provided by resistors. Well, actually, everything has resistance, it’s just that some are have too small of it, it’s negligible.

Everything sounded weird? I’ll give visualization…

Imagine a faucet with running water. Current is like the water flowing through it, Voltage is the pressure that pushes the water out, and resistance is the blockade made by turning the knob. (It would’ve been better if I had a picture with arrows and captions… too bad! Lol)

Well, that’s the basics and all you need to know before you fall into severe boredom where everything you read turns weird and blah blah blah yip yap yip yip yap yap…